


Castle's First Experience with an Abnormal

by arya_dragonlover



Category: Castle, Sanctuary (TV)
Genre: Bank Robbery, Castle is a hostage again, Episode: s03e03 Bank Job, Episode: s04e07 Cops and Robbers (inspiration)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-10
Updated: 2018-08-10
Packaged: 2019-06-24 17:17:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15635184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arya_dragonlover/pseuds/arya_dragonlover
Summary: Castle looked up at the sound of gun shots. “Everyone down!” an Indian woman shouted. “This is a hold up!” Castle groaned quietly to himself; not another bank robbery where he was a hostage. Hopefully this time, it would simply be a robbery and not a convoluted plot …





	Castle's First Experience with an Abnormal

**Author's Note:**

> The original characters and plot line belongs to those who wrote and created this amazing fictional universe. I do not own any of it. I only own my own characters and plots. Some of the dialogue within this story is identical to the original/ canon product. I claim no part of that and its entire purpose is to ensure that the characters stay as canon as possible.

Castle was playing with his phone whilst he waited for the bank to open. He and Beckett were here investigating a murder, as was their norm. The victim was a woman who had been shot in an alley way. The only identification they had found was a security key to this bank. As soon as the bank opened, they would be able to access the victim’s security box and hopefully get some answers. Of course, he had to wait for Beckett to get here. She had been delayed by a phone call and had sent him on ahead.

Castle looked at the time and, seeing that it was 8.59am, put his phone in his pocket and walked towards the bank doors. He stopped a few meters away from the doors, not wanting to crowd the trio that were standing directly in front of the bank’s entrance. The trio was an eclectic group. A young Indian woman in a leather jacket was slouching against the wall. But though her posture seemed casual, there was a tenseness about her that made him cautious. A young man about the same age was standing close to her, reading a newspaper. He was dressed casually and was smiling at something that he had read in the paper. The final member of the trio was a woman who appeared to be about ten years older than the other two. She had lovely dark hair that fell freely over her shoulders and was wearing a black coat. There was an air of mystery about her, but Castle was pretty sure that was just the writer in him. Even so, Castle prided himself on his ability to read others, and there was just something wrong about these three.

As he approached, he heard the older woman murmur in an English accent to her companions, “Here we go, I’ll take point.”

Castle pondered the out of place sentence as one of the bank tellers opened the door and he followed the trio into the bank. It wasn’t what one said when entering a bank, but perhaps they were trying to negotiate for a loan. Castle remembered the times that he had tried to get a loan from the bank, back before he had become famous. ‘ _Considering how hard it can be to get a loan from a bank, a three-pronged attack plan is actually a good idea.’_ Castle thought with a chuckle. ‘ _It might be easier to simply rob the bank, rather than attempt to negotiate a decent loan from these sharks.’_ He sat down in one of the chairs inside the bank and watched as the dark-haired woman approached the teller. Her two companions were over at a table, waiting.

“Safety deposit box 350 please,” the dark-haired woman said as she reached into her bag and withdrew something.

Castle’s ears pricked up at the box number. That was the number on the key that they had found on the victim. His entire attention was now focused on the woman, trying to hear everything. ‘ _I can’t interfere yet,’_ Castle thought. ‘ _Until Beckett gets here, I have no grounds to detain her. But if she tries to leave before Beckett arrives, I will just have to stop her somehow.’_

“Certainly,” the banker replied. “Ms Fernley, I’m going to have to see some …” he trailed off as the woman, Abigail, placed her identification on the bench. “Oh,” said the banker in surprise. “Well, you’re certainly organised.” Abigail smiled at him as he checked her identification. “Ms Fernley,” he said, “everything seems to be in order. Bridget will show you to the vault.”

Abigail and Bridget left and headed towards the vault. Castle watched the other people in the bank as he waited for Beckett to turn up. An elderly woman went into an office with one of the bank employees and a couple of other people entered the bank and went about their business. The other members of the trio were still waiting at the table away from the other customers. Castle watched as the Indian woman pointed to the security camera and said something to the man. They both looked around, seeming to assess their surroundings.  Shortly after Abigail had left, the man brought his hand to his ear and spoke, too quietly for Castle to hear. A moment later, both his and the Indian woman’s gazes darted about the bank, a look of worry appearing on both their faces. They turned, taking in the entire bank. A heavy feeling settled into Castle’s gut. Something had just gone wrong.

The Indian woman stepped into the centre of the room, pulling a gun from inside the waist band of her jeans.

“Everyone down!” she shouted. “This is a hold up!” She then fired five shots into the ceiling before lowering the gun. “Kiss the floor, now!”

Castle dropped to the floor cursing his luck. _‘Seriously?_ _!’_ he thought, _‘This is the second time that I’ve been taken hostage during a bank robbery. I hope that I can get out of this one too.’_ From the floor, he observed the Indian woman and the man. The man was staring at the woman in completely disbelieving shock.

“What the hell are you doing?” he asked in an unsteady yet indignant voice.

“Improvising,” she growled back at him. “Get with the program.”

Castle felt a shudder of fear go through him. _‘This is bad!_ ’ he thought. He knew all too well how a situation could spiral out of control when criminals improvised. _‘And it is doubtful that this is about the money. If it was, they would be improvising, at least not this early into the robbery. At least I was the only one who heard that,’_ he thought as he looked at the other hostages. _‘If the others knew that they were improvising, they might try something and get themselves shot.”_ He faintly heard the ding of the elevator and turned to see ‘Abigail exiting.

“I am not your wing man,” the man hissed to the Indian woman, pulling out a gun, before turning to Abigail, who was also holding a gun.

“We’ll talk about this later,” Abigail said to the Indian woman, who looked sheepishly at her before looking away in deference.

 _‘Right,’_ Castle thought. _‘Abigail’s in charge. The other two clearly respect her, you can see it in their body language. They trust each other. It won’t be possible to turn them against each other.’_

“Ok boys and girls,” Abigail said in a suddenly American accent. “We’re in charge here. Cell phones and pagers front and centre.”

She and the man began herding everyone over to the chairs in the corner of the bank. The Indian woman kept her gun on them the whole time. Castle watched as she approached the banker behind the desk and growled at him.

“Hey, show your hands,” she said as she guided him out from behind the desk. Abigail approached him and pointed her finger directly at him.

“Rule number one,” she said sternly. “No heroes.”

“He probably tripped the alarm,” the Indian woman said once all off the hostages were gathered. Castle felt a small burst of relief. If the alarm was tripped then the police would be here soon. _‘And Beckett will be there too.’_

That feeling was quickly dissipated when Abigail turned calmly around and shot the security camera. There was a bright spark of light as the bullet tore through the camera, breaking the fixture. The hostages instinctively ducked, crying out in fear and alarm. Abigail walked over to the bank manager and held out her hand. “The keys,” she said and the manager placed them in her hand with a slight tremble.

“We just had a dead reserve pick up yesterday,” the manager said in a quivering voice as Abigail locked the bank doors and closed the blinds. “You won’t find anything in the vault.” Abigail ignored him.

“Okay everyone,” the male robber said, “just stay calm.” Castle looked at him with a frown. Out of the trio, he seemed to be the least calm. In fact, he looked as uncomfortable as some of the hostages.

 _‘He’s the newest,’_ Castle though. _‘Hasn’t done this before, not like the others; the Indian woman seems the most experienced and Abigail seems to know what she is doing. He is the weak link.’_

“What are you guys going to do with us?” one of his fellow hostages asked.

“Nothing,” the man replied. “If everyone stays calm, everything will be fine.”

“But we’ve seen your faces,” one of the other hostages said.

“That doesn’t mean that they will kill us,” Castle lied. The hostage looked at him in surprise. “We don’t know their names and it is really hard to identify someone with just a witness description. If we just stay calm, we can all go home soon.”

“Exactly,” the robber said. Castle was surprised to see a faint expression of relief on his face when he heard what Castle said. “Remaining calm equals going home,” the robber continued. “So, please, remain calm and take a seat.”

 _‘He clearly doesn’t want to shoot anyone,’_ Castle thought as the hostages sat down. “Um, excuse me,” he said, in what he hoped was an apologetic tone. “But I have to go to the bathroom. I have a very small bladder.”

The man looked towards the female robbers. At the Indian woman’s nod, he grabbed Castle’s arm and escorted him to the bathroom. On the way out, Castle saw that Abigail was talking to the wall. _‘They are in contact with the outside,’_ he thought as they exited the room. The robber escorted Castle to the toilets and waited for him outside. Castle inspected the bathroom, looking for a way out, but the window wouldn’t open and there was no other way out. Not that Castle had expected much. This plan hadn’t worked the last time either. He flushed the toilet, turned on the taps and washed his hands. Once he was done, Castle exited the bathroom and was escorted back to the other hostages. Upon his re-entry, the Indian woman searched him for hidden weapons or communication devices.

“They’re all clean,” she reported to Abigail, who nodded. “Now sit down,” she told Castle and pointed to the bank manager and then the male robber. “You, go with him.”

The bank manager rose uncertainly to his feet and was escorted into his office by the male robber. As they left the room, Abigail seemed to finish the conversation that she was having with their partner outside of the bank. She waked over to the Indian woman and they both entered the same office as their companion. Shortly afterwards, the manager was sent back out of the office, whilst all three robbers remained within. The office had clear windows that showed the entire bank floor, enabling them to keep an eye on their hostages, whilst holding a conversation that could not be overhear.

Castle took this opportunity to check on his fellow hostages. He remembered how talking between themselves about menial things had distracted them the last time that he had been taken hostage.

“So, is everyone ok?” he asked.

He received a few murmured affirmative responses, whilst the rest just nodded their heads.

“I work with the police and my partner is going to get us out,” he said. “Now I know this because this has happened to me before.”

That got the group’s attention.

“What happened?” asked a young woman.

“A group of thieves tried to rob a bank that I was in, in New York. They took hostages, but the police were able to get us out safely,” Castle said in a calm tone. He paused for a moment and then said a little more forcefully, “All of us were fine. Just like how we are going to be fine.” He finished with a small smile.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had been a while since the robbers had entered the office and all of the hostages were sitting quietly. Castle’s brain was going at a hundred kilometres a minute. _‘This confirms that they aren’t after the money,’_ he thought. _‘They have not touched the till and they haven’t gone to the money reserves, even though they have the manager’s key. None of them are wearing gloves, so they aren’t worried about finger prints and they don’t have any masks. That may be because this wasn’t the plan, but if they consider robbing a bank acceptable reaction to their initial plan failing, surely they would have had a plan for this eventuality. Whatever is going on here, it is much more complicated than just money.”_

Castle’s attention was drawn away from the robbers when the female banker rose to her feet unsteadily. He half rose out of his seat, but seeing that she was standing fine on her own, he sat back down. Seeing the movement, Abigail left the office and approached the hostages.

“I’m not feeling so good,” the banker said faintly, and Abigail’s face filled with worry and what Castle thought was a bit of fear. Abigail raised her hand to the hostage’s face and took her temperature.

“Dear God, it can’t be happening already,” Castle heard her mumble as she escorted the hostage into the office.

This single statement was enough to send his imagination into overdrive. _‘What can’t be happening already?’_ he thought. _‘That woman seemed sick. What if it was a virus? Did they release an airborne virus and for some reason it is happening quicker than they thought? No, that doesn’t make any sense. If they were going to kill us that way, they wouldn’t have locked themselves in here with us. Perhaps they were here to collect a virus and it somehow got released? Damn, I wish I knew what was going on.’_

Castle’s musing was interrupted by the sound of sirens approaching. Everyone, the hostages and the robbers, all looked around at the noise. Glimmers of hope appeared on the hostages’ faces, whilst a look of resignation appeared on the robbers’. While the robbers were distracted, Castle slipped out his notebook and pen and quickly wrote a few thing down. He tore the page out of the book and folded it as he slipped it into a pocket. When the opportunity came, he wanted to be able to get some information out to Becket. Now all he had to do was wait for the right time.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kate Beckett was completely flabbergasted when she parked outside the bank. She had expected to enter the bank and go straight into the meeting that was arranged, but instead, to her surprise, she found four police cars. Barricades were set up surrounding the bank, with nearly a dozen uniformed officers crouched behind them, pointing rifles at the bank. There was a mobile command unit a few meters away from the perimeter and a plain-clothed detective exited, talking on a radio.

“Excuse me, Miss, but you can’t come any closer,” a uniformed officer told her, putting a hand out to block her path. Beckett glared at the man and pulled out her badge.

“I’m a NYPD detective and I’m here investigating a homicide. My partner is currently in the bank,” she said shortly to the officer. “Now what is going on?”

“Bank robbery, Detective,” the officer said. “The silent alarm was triggered about five minutes ago; we just arrived.”

“I’ve had experience dealing with hostage situations before, Officer,” Beckett said. “I would be happy to assist with the situation.”

The officer looked thoughtful for a moment. “That’s up to the Captain to decide, Detective,” he said. He took a step back and led her over to the mobile command unit.  

“I have a NYPD detective here, sir,” he said. The Captain, the plain-clothed detective who was on the radio, looked at her with a frown.

“Detective Kate Beckett,” Beckett said, sticking her hand out for a shake. “I have experience dealing with bank robberies. Once, I was even in charge of negotiations everyone one of the hostages made it out alive. I would be happy to help you manage the current situation.”

“Captain Bronson,” the man replied shaking her hand. He looked at her for a moment before asking, “What is a New York cop doing here?”

“My partner and I had a meeting with the bank manager regarding a case,” Beckett answered. “I was delayed by a phone call and he went ahead.”

“We have a cop in there?” Captain Bronson asked and Beckett sighed. This was just like the last time that Castle had gotten himself held hostage. She gave the same answer that she had the last time.

“No sir, he is a civilian investigator, but he has been in hostage situations before,” she said.

“Well Detective, your experience in this matter would be helpful,” Captain Bronson said. “We haven’t had a bank robbery here in Clarksburg in almost 60 years. But remember, I am still in charge here.”

“Thank you sir,” Beckett said. “Now, do we have any information on what is going on in the bank?”

“Negative,” the police officer said. “We can’t get ears nor eyes in the bank. The cameras are down and we do not have the equipment to hear what is going on inside.”

“Well then,” Beckett said, “our next move is to call the bank robbers and open negotiations.”

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A phone rang throughout the bank, very loud in the quietness of the bank.

“Right on schedule,” said the Indian woman.

Castle felt a flash of concern go through him. Normal robbers didn’t wait for the police to ring, they tried to get away before they arrived. Whatever the trio’s plan was, it seemed to involve the cops. _‘Hopefully this time they won’t blow up the bank with me in it as an escape route,’_ he thought. _‘That was not fun.’_

Abigail picked up the phone and hesitated for a moment. She turned to her two companions, seeming unable to decide which person to hand the phone to.

“Hey, I know the playbook,” said the Indian woman. “They wrote it for people like me.”

The male robber let out a sigh of exasperation and said “Cop.” in a tone that was attempting to convince Abigail to give him the phone.

The Indian woman glanced at him with a slight look of contempt and said “Robber.” in the same tone.

“It’s your show,” Abigail said as she handed the phone over to the woman. “Stall for time. If things are as we suspect, the last thing that we need is more innocent people storming in here.”

 _‘Well, that sounds ominous,’_ Castle thought.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Beckett waited impatiently as the phone rang. As the phone kept ringing, she felt a sliver of fear that the robbers would not answer. If that happened, they would have to storm the bank, placing the hostages at risk. She felt like sighing in relief when the call connected.

“Five and a half minutes,” a feminine voice with an Indian accent said in a slightly sarcastic tone. “Long line up at the donut shop?”

“Good morning,” Beckett said calmly. “This is Detective Beckett. We seem to have a situation here. Anything that I can do to help?”

“Yeah, we have a situation,” the robber said curtly. “Seven hostages, no injuries. If you would like to keep it that way, I want a chopper and a thirty minute head start with radio silence.” After a slight pause, the woman on the phone continued, “Oh, and two tickets to the next Eddie Izzard show.” Beckett was about to respond when the line went dead.

A frown crossed her face as she stared at the phone. The demands that these robbers had were strange. Not the helicopter or the head start, those were fairly standard demands, but to be demanding concert tickets? That was strange. When you factored in the flippant way that the last demand had been tacked on, it left her with only one conclusion.

“Is she kidding us?” Captain Bronson asked Beckett, disbelief clear on his face.

“She’s stalling for time,” Beckett replied. “Whatever is going on, they need more time. The tickets, the chopper, it’s all a diversion to keep us busy whilst they do whatever they intend to do.”

“So, what do you recommend we do?” Captain Bronson asked.

“We wait a little while and call back,” Beckett instructed. “We keep them calm and make them feel that they are in control of the situation. If they feel that things are spiralling out of their control, that’s when they start shooting hostages.”

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Castle sat in the chair, thinking over the conversation that he had heard. He had reached the same conclusions that Beckett had. His brain was now focused on how he could get a message to Beckett. Unlike the last time, he couldn’t flash a Morse code message as the robbers had closed the shutters on all the windows. He watched as the robbers moved about the bank, trying to think of a plausible idea. Abigail had gone back into the office, where the ill hostage was. The Indian woman was using her phone to take photos of papers, whilst keeping an eye on the hostages. She was also talking to the male robber, who had left the office. Their conversation was interrupted by the phone ringing.

“Yeah,” the Indian woman said as she answered the phone.

“Just wanted to let you know,” Detective Beckett said, “we are working meeting your demands. The chopper that you requested, it is going to be here. It may take a little time, but it will get here.”

“Really?” the Indian woman said in disbelief. “So, you called your captain and he relayed the request to the FBI, who then contacted Homeland Security, who then cleared a flight path with the F.A.A., and they commandeered a chopper, in what? All of three minutes?” She paused for a moment to let what she had said sink in and, when the detective didn’t response, continued in a voice filled with iron, “Now, jerk me around again and I will have to show you just how serious I am. And you wouldn’t that now, would you?” And she hung up.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Outside in the mobile command centre there was silence as Detective Beckett and Captain Bronson processed what had just happened. The robber’s understanding of the procedures needed to get a helicopter had completely blind-sided Beckett. Given the casual way that the robber had initiated the negotiations, Beckett had thought that they were dealing with an amateur, but now it was clear that the robbers were professionals that knew what they’re doing.

“Ok, so they clearly know what they’re doing.” Becker said to Captain Bronson. “The woman clearly knew that we were trying to manipulate the situation and called us on it, but didn’t shoot anyone to make her point. This means that the hostages are safer than they would be with panicked robbers.”

“So much for you plan, Detective,” said Captain Bronson. “The robbers are clearly in control here. We have no way to see what is going on in the bank and those thieves are giving us anything to work with.”

“We stick with the plan,” Becket said. “We keep the situation from escalating and wait for them to make a mistake.”

After waiting about another ten minutes, Beckett once again called the bank. The Indian woman answered the phone and said smugly, “So, have we learned our lesson?”

Beckett felt irritation rise at the condescension in the other woman’s tone, but kept her tone neutral as she replied. “Yes,” she said. “We are doing our best to meet your demands. But you have to do something for me as well. Let a hostage go, as a sign of good faith.”

“I’ll think about it,” the woman replied.

“That’s no good enough. I need to know that the hostages are safe,” Beckett said in the least confrontational voice she could manage. “Come on, you have to meet me half way here. If you don’t-”

“If I don’t, you storm the bank and your guys will come in through the ceiling. I know the drill,” interrupted the woman. “Just make sure that you keep up your end of the bargain.” And the line went dead again.

“We’re running out of time, if they don’t cooperate I will have to take the bank,” said the Captain.

“I know,” Beckett said. “But we don’t want to push them. It can cause bad results.”

“They aren’t leaving me with much of a choice,” Captain Bronson said.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Castle wrapped his coat around the elderly woman sitting next to him, who was shivering violently. Ever since the robbers had taken control of the bank, it had been getting colder. Earlier, one of his fellow hostages had asked if they could turn the temperate up, but that request had been shot down. He looked around at the other hostages. Compared to the hostages in the first robbery, these hostages were nowhere near as scared. Castle attributed it to the fact that these robbers were mostly leaving them alone and not continuously threatening them with being shot.

As the Indian woman hung up the phone, he rose and walled slowly over to her. As he got close, she lifted the gun and pointed it straight at his chest. “Close enough,” she said.

“I don’t mean to cause trouble,” Castle said carefully, “but the old woman, Grace, is really cold. And she said something about her heart. Could you at least her go? It would show the police that you are willing to negotiate. She can tell them that you haven’t hurt anyone and it would make them more willing to listen to your demands.”

The Indian woman shook her head. “Can’t do that,” she said with a slightly regretful look on her face.

“Well then could you at least turn the heating up?” Castle asked as he shivered slightly. “Frozen hostages aren’t going to be of much use.”

“No. Just sit down,” the woman said curtly, gesturing with her gun at the seat that Castle had vacated.

As he sat down, he saw Abigail and the male robber escort the female bank teller out of the office. The bank teller sat down and the trio of robbers had a quiet conversation. Castle turned to the bank teller and quietly introduced himself.

“Hi, Richard Castle,” he said in a low voice.

“Bridget Mills,” the bank teller replied.

“So tell me Bridget, are you okay?” Castle asked. “You looked pretty sick when you left.”

“I’m fine,” Bridget answered quietly. “Just morning sickness. Turns out I’m pregnant.” She gave a little choked sob after that statement. Castle reached over and rubbed her arm soothingly.

“Hey, I’m sure that you and the baby will be fine. You’ll get out of this safe and sound,” he said comfortingly. “So are hoping for a girl or a boy?”

“I haven’t even thought about it,” Bridget said in a shaky voice.

Their conversation stopped when Castle saw the Indian woman pick up the phone. “Listen up,” she said once the call had connected. “I’m about to release a hostage. She is coming out now.” As she said this, the male robber turned to Bridget.

“All right, get up,” he said, gesturing to her with his gun. As Bridget stood up, Castle rose as well. “Only her,” the male robber said pointing the gun at Castle. Castle nodded and sat back down, trying to hide his smile. He had successfully slipped the page of the notebook into Bridget’s hand. He watched as Bridget slipped her hand ever so slightly into her pocket and hid the page.

Once at the door, the Indian woman placed her gun in the small of Bridget’s back and nodded to her two companions, who were standing either side of the double doors. “Let’s make this smooth,” she told the police over the phone and the male robber opened one of the doors. Bridget ran out of the bank.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Beckett watched as the hostage exited the bank; so far everything was going smoothly. However, a second person appeared in the bank doorway and tried to run out of the bank. A minor struggle occurred in the doorway as three people tried to hold him back.

“Go, take it,” she heard Captain Bronson order and one of the uniformed officers shot.

“No,” yelled Beckett as the shot went off. The man trying to escape jerked back with a yell of pain and was pulled back into the building by the robbers. The bank door swung shut and there was no more movement visible from outside the bank.

“Dammit,” swore Beckett. “Why did you shoot at them?” she asked Captain Bronson.

“We had a shot and we took it,” Captain Bronson answered unapologetically. “It was my call to make, Detective. Remember, I am in charge here.”

“Well, I hope that it was worth it,” Beckett said. “Hopefully we didn’t piss the robbers off enough that they shoot a hostage in retaliation.” Captain Bronson looked sombre at that comment.

 “Let’s go talk to our hostage,” was all that he said in response.

Together they walked over to the former hostage, whom had been hurried behind the barricades. As they approached, Beckett took in her physical appearance. Aside from looking terrified, the woman appeared to be okay. Her smart business attire was rumpled and creased, but there was no sign of any injury or blood on her. Beckett ensured that her most reassuring smile was on her face before she spoke to the former hostage.

“Hello, my name is Detective Beckett and this is Captain Bronson. What’s your name?”

“Bridget Mills,” the former hostage said in a scared voice.

“Well Bridget, you have been very brave so far and I am going to need you to be brave for a little bit longer.” Beckett said in a gentle voice. “Now, can you tell us what happened? How many robbers are there?”

“There are three,” Bridget began hesitantly. “Two women and a man.”

“Good,” Beckett encouraged. “What kind of weapons did they have? Did they look like the rifles or like this gun here?” she asked as she slowly removed her service weapon.

“They looked like yours,” Bridget answered. “I don’t know if they had any other weapons. I only saw three guns.”

“And the hostages?” Beckett asked. “Is anyone hurt?”

“No,” Bridget said, relieving some of the fear that had gripped Beckett since she learnt that Castle was inside the bank. “They haven’t hurt anyone. They mostly left us alone.”

“This is very helpful Bridget,” said Beckett encouragingly. “What else can you tell us about the robbers?”

“I think that one of them is a doctor,” Bridget offered after a moment’s thought. “The one that is in charge. When I felt sick, she examined me.” Here she paused and looked directly into Beckett’s eyes. “I don’t think that they are after the money.”

“And why do you think that?” asked Beckett. She had suspected as much, but wanted to know why the hostage thought that.

“After they took us hostage, they didn’t take any money from the registers or reserves. And the weirdest thing is, when I told them that I was sick, they were really concerned. I don’t think that if they were after money, they would have cared if I was ill. But they kept checking on me, saying that it was too soon, that I shouldn’t be sick. They then started talking about surgery, about taking it out of me. I was so scared when they said that. A little bit later, they made me look at some sort of scanner, before they let me return to the others,” Bridget explained.

Beckett and Captain Bronson shared a worried and confused look at Bridget’s words. Beckett felt her previously reduced levels of worry sky rocket once again.

“Is there anything else that you can think of that seems important?” Beckett asked. Bridget thought for a moment, then nodded her head.

“There’s this,” she said as she reached into her pocket and handed a folded square of paper to Beckett. “One of the other hostages, he gave me it.  He said that he worked with the cops.”

“What was his name?” Beckett asked as she took the paper.

“Castle,” Bridget answered. “I can’t remember his first name.”

“Is that your partner?” Captain Bronson asked Beckett.

“Yes,” Beckett replied. Turning to Bridget she smiled again. “Thank you Bridget,” she said. “You have been a big help. Now, this officer is going to stay with you and ask you a few more questions. Please answer them the best that you can.” With a final smile, Beckett and Captain Bronson turned and returned to the mobile command centre.

Beckett unfolded the page that Castle had smuggled out of the bank.

_Three robbers, outside contact_

_SDB 350, Abigail Fernley accessing box_

_Not after money_

_Disease released?_

After a moment to process what she had read, Beckett turned to Captain Bronson and handed him the page. As he scanned it, Becket spoke. “It impossible for Abigail Fernley to be in that bank.”

“Oh yeah?” Captain Bronson asked. “Why is that then?”

“Because Abigail Fernley is the name of the homicide victim that brought my partner and I here. We were unable to identify the victim before we arrived, but we had found a security key for this bank on her body. The phone call that delayed me from arriving at the bank with my partner was from my team back in New York. Her prints were too badly damaged for us to run finger prints, but they ran her DNA through the Combined DNA Index System and got a hit.”

“Do you think that the robbers are her murderers?” asked Captain Bronson.

“It’s definitely a possibility,” Beckett answered. “I’m going to call my guys back in New York. See if they have discovered any more information on Abigail Fernley.”

“While you do that, I will see about getting a cell tracker going. See if we can’t triangulate their accomplice,” Captain Bronson said.

Beckett nodded and stepped outside of the mobile command unit as she dialled up the other members of her team.

“Yo, Beckett,” Esposito said cheerfully as he answered the phone. “You and Castle enjoying your romantic getaway?”

“It’s not a romantic getaway,” Beckett said in exasperation.

“I don’t know,” Ryan’s voice teased – Esposito must have put her on speakerphone. “A trip to lovely Clarksburg. A nice hotel, with just you and Castle there, all alone. Sounds like a romantic getaway to me.”

“Yeah, well maybe if Castle hadn’t gotten himself taken hostage, you two might have a point,” Beckett said acerbically.

“What?” exclaimed Ryan and Esposito.

“Castle was in the bank when three robbers took everyone hostage,” Beckett explained. “He was able to get some information to us, seems that one of the robbers is Abigail Fernley.”

“Wait, as in our Abigail Fernley,” Esposito said. “Our murder victim?”

“Yes,” Becket said. “Seems that Miss Fernley is attempting to access the security box.”

“So, someone is impersonating Abigail to access the security box?” Esposito asked.

“This is so like Castle,” Ryan said. “Always in the thick of things.”

“Yeah,” Esposito agreed. “Remember the last time that he was taken hostage in a bank robbery, those robbers were interested in a security deposit box as well.”

“Castle can’t do anything like us ordinary folk,” Ryan agreed. “Even when he is taken hostage, it has to be a huge conspiracy.”

“Guys, focus,” Beckett interrupted angrily. “I need you to tell me what you have found out about our murder victim.”

“Sorry Beckett,” they both apologised.

“I have something,” Esposito said. “Abigail Fernley has a criminal record. Looks like she was arrested a couple of times for rare animal smuggling. Never convicted. From the looks of it, there were some pretty powerful people protecting her.”

“About two years ago, she dropped off of everyone’s radar,” Ryan continued. “No arrests, no tickets, nothing.”

“So she may have changed what she was smuggling,” Beckett hypothesised. “Castle’s note said that there may have been an outbreak of some disease in the bank. Seemed that the robbers got very nervous when the hostage felt sick and scanned her with some kind of device, before releasing her. Any evidence that Abigail Fernley could have started smuggling infectious biological agents?”

Ryan and Esposito were silent for a few minutes, the only sound that could be heard were the typing of computer keys. “Sorry Beckett,” Ryan said. “There’s nothing here to support that claim.”

“Yeah,” Esposito agreed. “I couldn’t find anything either. Seems like two years ago was the last time that any agency had contact with her. If she is involved in anything, it must be underground.”

“Thanks guys,” Beckett said. “Let me know if you come up with anything else.”

“Will do Beckett,” Ryan agreed.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Castle jumped when the shot was fired. He watched in dismay as the hostage that had attempted to make a break for it stumbled back into the bank and fell to the floor, clutching his upper arm. ‘Abigail’ slammed the bank doors shut and locked them before dropping to the floor and checking on the injured hostage. As she tended to the bullet wound, the Indian woman stood guard over her, lest another hostage try something.

“Take it easy,” she said as she tied the man’s tie about the wound the bullet had caused when it grazed his arm. “Don’t move.” The hostage moaned in pain as pressure was applied to the injury. “There,” she said as she finished. “That should slow the bleeding. Hold it tight, and relax. I’ll be right back.” Abigail stood up and the male robber took her place. He raised up some strange contraption that looked as though it had been cobbled together from multiple other devices. He lifted it up so that the contraption was at eye level with the injured man.

“Look right here,” he instructed as the machine emitted a beam of light.

Once the machine beeped, the man stood up and walked over to the other hostages. One by one, he raised the machine up to eye level and instructed the hostage to look at the screen. As he approached Castle and raised the scanner, Castle decided to take a chance.

“So,” he began in a conversational voice, “what kind of gadget is that? A medical scanner? Mind control? Ooh, is it an alien scanner?”

The man sent Castle a disbelieving look, before muttering, “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“Try me,” said Castle. “I am very open-minded.”

“Just stay quiet and out of the way,” the man instructed before he left and headed over to the other robbers, whom were tending to the shot hostage.

 _‘But seriously,’_ thought Castle, _‘why are they scanning everyone’s eyes?’_

A couple of minutes later, and Abigail suddenly walked over to the elderly woman. “Good news,” she said. “You’re free to go.”

Grace looked at Abigail for a moment and shook her head. “No,” she said firmly. “Let the injured man go first.”

Abigail looked at Grace as though she were crazy. “I’m offering you your freedom,” she said in a voice that emphasized her confusion.

“What difference does it make which hostage gets to leave?” Grace asked. “Let the injured man go.”

Abigail gazed at Grace once more, her expression becoming slightly suspicious. “Show me you purse,” she instructed. Grace paused for a moment, but seeing something in the other woman’s eyes, she slowly reached down to the floor and lifted her purse out of her handbag. Abigail opened the purse and looked at the cards within. She pulled out a business card for an international company.

“Why do you have a card for ABS sales and shipping?” Abigail asked in a dangerous tone.

Grace shifted uncomfortably. “Not that it is any of your business, but I was having some artwork shipped from overseas.”

“It’s just that this company is involved in smuggling some dangerous and red-listed items,” Abigail said warily. “I find it highly suspicious that you would happen to have this card and be in the bank today.”

“You can think whatever you want, lass,” Grace said. “Doesn’t change anything. Doesn’t mean that I care. Now are we going to talk all day or are you going to get on with this robbery.”

“Well, if you don’t want to leave, then I can’t make you,” Abigail said after another quizzical look at Grace. She stood up and walked over to the other robbers.

Castle watched their interactions with curiosity. _‘Whatever was released must target only certain individuals. The scanner must check to see if someone is affected. They clearly don’t want whatever it is to get away._

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“We got a lock from the cellular tracker,” Captain Bronson informed Beckett. “I’m sending people to check it out. You can join them if you want.”

Two police cars pulled up to a mobile home that was parked in an alley a few blocks away from the bank. The sirens blared as the cars screeched to a halt and multiple officers exited. They trained their weapons on the mobile home and waited as Beckett put on her bullet proof vest and approached the home. An officer pounded on the door and yelled for whoever was in there to open up. Faint noises from within indicated that there was someone inside.

When they received no reply, the officer yanked the door open violently and charged into the vehicle, gun raised. Beckett followed behind the officer and inspected the interior, but there was no one present. “Clear,” the officer said as he finished checking the mobile home.

The interior of the mobile home was filled with high tech computer gear. Multiple screens were set up on every counter. Interspaced between the computers were some expensive lab equipment. The light beneath the microscope was still on and next to it, the centrifuge was blinking. Beakers, conical flasks and glass containers were on the table and shelves, filled with unknown chemicals and liquids. A micropipette lay nearby, clearly having been used shortly before the mobile home had been abandoned, as a small amount of red liquid remained within.

“Well,” Beckett said as she took in the medical and scientific equipment. “This place is definitely set up for something biological. Perhaps Castle’s theory about an infectious agent isn’t as fantastic as it sounds.”

Before the officer could reply, the computer screens lit up as lines of text flowed across them. One of the screens, though, had optical images that changed as some sort of analysis occurred. Beckett looked at the screens for a moment, before she sent the officer to find a technical analyst. But before the analyst arrived, the screens went blank and a single textbox containing the word ‘Goodbye’ flashed across the screen and then all of the screens went blank.

“Dammit,” cursed Beckett. She contacted Captain Bronson via her radio and told him what had occurred.

“Alright,” Captain Bronson said over the radio as Beckett exited the mobile home. “Enough of this ginning around. Cut the power.”

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A dull thudding sound filled the bank as the lights and air-conditioning turned off. Castle felt a surge of anticipation as he realised the power to the bank had been cut off. They were reaching the end-game of this standoff and things were about to get interesting. The phone rang once again and Castle listened carefully to the conversation that occurred. According to police procedure, after they cut the power, there was one last attempt to negotiate, before they attempted to storm the bank.

“What the hell are they teaching you at Quantico?” demanded the Indian woman as she answered the phone. “Your guys shot one of the hostages.”

“That was an accident,” Beckett said in a calming tone. “You had your gun pointed at a civilian who was clearly in distress. How were we to know that you weren’t going to shoot him?”

“Any more tricks like that,” the Indian woman snarled, “and we will.”

“We found your accomplice out here,” Beckett bluffed, having decided that her previous plan of keeping the robbers calm wasn’t working. Perhaps a more aggressive approach would yield more results. “He’s told us all about your operation.”

“Then you must have the wrong guy,” the Indian woman said dismissively, calling Beckett’s bluff. She hung up the phone. Turning to her companions, she said, “They’re getting more nervous. Won’t be long until they try to take the bank. We need to be out of here before that happens.”

“We can’t leave yet,” Abigail said firmly. “Not until we know which of them is infested.”

That last comment peaked Castle’s interest. _‘Intriguing,’_ he thought, _‘Only one of us appears to have been affected by whatever it is. And they don’t know who.’_

Castle’s attention was drawn to Abigail as she reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. Looking at the screen, a look of relief flowed over her face. However, moments later it was replaced by one of aggravation.

“Good news everyone,” she said in a loud voice. “Grace, Thomas, Sheryl and Michael your scans have come back clean. Move to the door.”

They stood up slowly, watching the robbers with barely concealed fear. Grace helped Michael, the injured hostage, to stand. Sheryl shyly asked Abigail, “Are … are you going to shoot us?”

“No,” Abigail said firmly. “You’re free to go. Unless you want to stay.” That last statement was directed at Grace.

Grace shook her head and even cracked a wry smile as she spoke to Abigail. “I don’t care how much you take from these blood suckers, just leave my pension alone.”

“You have my word, Ma’am,” Abigail said as she ushered the four chosen hostages to the front doors.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Beckett was nervously trying to avoid pacing as she waited for someone to make the next move. Time was running out, and everyone was preparing to storm the bank. Captain Bronson had refused to allow her to participate in the raid, claiming that she was too emotionally involved in this. Despite her best efforts, Captain Bronson refused to change his mind.

“We have movement,” one of the officers called as the bank doors opened. Four people ran out of the bank doors. “Four hostages,” the officer identified. “No one shoot.” The bank door slammed shut after the last hostage exited. The hostages ran across the no man’s land between the bank and the police barricade and were quickly escorted to safety.

“Only five hostages have been released,” Captain Bronson observed. “There are still two in the bank.”

“Why only release these hostages?” Beckett asked. “At the moment, the more hostages they have, the better for them. We are less likely to risk a raid if there are a lot of civilians present.”

“Perhaps they’ve lost their nerve,” Captain Bronson suggested. “Now that we are down to the wire, they don’t want any more hostages than they need.”

“If that were true, six hostages would have been released,” Beckett countered. “Why would they keep two hostages?”

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Castle felt extremely nervous as he watched the four cleared hostages leave the bank. As one of only two remaining hostages, the odds were not in his favour. Both he and his fellow hostage had risen to their feet as the other hostages had been released. The other hostage, Dave, lunged forward suddenly and grabbed the gun that was in the waist band of the Indian woman’s jeans. What surprised Castle was that instead of pointing the gun at the robbers, the hostage pulled Castle to him. His arm slipped around Castle’s neck and the gun was pressed against Castle’s temple.

All three of the robbers whirled to face him. “This should buy me enough time to escape with Castle here, before he explodes,” Dave said.

“Wait, what?” yelped Castle. “Explode?”

His outburst was ignored by both the robbers and the man holding the gun. Abigail walked forward, stopping a few feet away from the pair. “Well, well,” she said in a suddenly British accent, “Looks like we have met our competition.”

“Competition?” spluttered Castle. “Will someone just tell me what is going on?”

“Quiet,” snarled Dave as he pushed the gun harder against Castle’s head. In a slightly sarcastic tone, he address Abigail. “The famous Helen Magnus,” he said. “It’s a privilege. Now kindly drop your weapons.”

At Abigail’s’ no Magnus’, nod, she and the male robber slowly placed their guns on the floor. “You don’t leave us much choice,” she said in a tone that indicated that she wasn’t backing down. “Let me guess,” she continued once she had placed her weapon on the floor, “Bounty hunter?”

Dave snorted at that suggestion and replied, “Do you have any idea how much a falopolis egg is worth on the black market?”

“Too bad for you it isn’t an egg anymore,” the male robber interjected.

“So,” Dave said casually, “I’ll grab the baby as it pops out of Castle here. Some pay day is better than none.”

Castle’s panicked look darted between the two sides, his brain whirling furiously. _‘Ok,’_ he thought, _‘They clearly after some kind of rare animal, not an infectious agent. Probably a parasite of some kind. Doesn’t sound good for me though. From the way that they describe it, it sounds like that creature from Aliens. And that movie did not end well for those who were infected.”_

“Excuse me,” Castle said, “but what is a falopolis? What is going to happen to me?”

Once again he was ignored. “And what if you are the host?” Magnus (formally Abigail) asked.

“I was the last one in the bank,” Dave said confidently. “Castle here has been here since it opened. I know it’s not me.”

“Ok. So you have my gun,” the Indian woman said. “You still have no way out of here.”

“I know you Sanctuary people,” Dave said. “Don’t test me. You have a way out of here. And,” he said pressing the gun into Castle’s temple, causing Castle to yelp in pain, “you’re going to tell me, or you can say goodbye to Mr Castle.”

“There is a panel in the elevator shaft,” the Indian woman said reluctantly. “Leads to an old heating vent back in the day when they used a coal furnace.”

“And where does it go?” asked Dave.

“To the basement of the neighbouring building,” she said curtly. “There is a grate in the floor that leads to the sewers. We were going to surface a few blocks away, no one would have been the wiser.”

“Show me,” Dave ordered. “After you.”

The entire group went down to the basement of the bank, where the vaults were. The trio of robbers walked over to the elevator shaft and Dave followed, keeping Castle firmly in his grasp, gun held to his head. The Indian woman and the male robber pried the doors open. A grate large enough for an average male to squeeze through was clearly visible in the shaft.

“There it is,” the male robber said, pointing to the grate.

“Open it,” ordered Dave. The male robber entered the shaft, carefully moving along the foot wide ledge along the wall of the shaft. He opened the grate with a clang, turning as he did so, showing Dave that the grate opened. “Ok,” Dave said. The male robber shut the gate once again and exited the shaft. Magnus’ phone began to vibrate. As she pulled it out of her pocket, Dave pointed the gun at her. “Show me,” he ordered. Magnus moved towards Castle and Dave and lifted the phone and showed them the screen. Castle took the opportunity to read the texts: _Michael, Thomas and Sheryl are clean. Salvage operations are a go._ The second text read: _East wall, 5 mins._

“East wall, 5 minutes?” asked Dave. “What does that mean?”

“Our driver is waiting for us,” Magnus answered.

“Well, he is going to have a long wait,” he said. “Earbuds on the floor. Now.” The trio of robbers obeyed, taking their communication devices out of their ears and letting them drop to the floor.

Castle suddenly felt a painful pressure in his gut. It rushed up into his chest and throat and a belch burst out. His eye’s widened in shock and horror as a lime green gas cloud escaped between his lips. As the gas escaped, Dave took a step back, keeping a hand on Castle’s shoulder and the gun to the back of his head. “What?” asked Castle, as another burst of gas escaped him.

“Gestation vapours,” Magnus explained.

“That can’t be good,” Castle said as a queasy feeling swamped him.

“It’s growing,” Magnus said concernedly. “If we don’t get it out soon, we will lose our opportunity.”

“So what are you going to do now, Dave?” asked the Indian woman. 

“He could kill the host,” the male robber suggested. “Save us all.”

“Hey, let’s not do anything hasty,” moaned Castle indignantly.

“Then the creature dies. No pay day,” Dave said in a tone that clearly dismissed that plan.

“He could shoot us,” offered Magnus. “Try and escape with Castle here, before he explodes.”

“Too loud,” countered Dave. “The cops would storm in here immediately.”

Castle frowned at the apparent indifference both parties had regarding his life. First shooting him, then letting him explode. _‘Hang on,’_ he thought, _‘this is like when Beckett and I fire out theories. We cover the ones that are unreasonable first, then we can reach an acceptable one. I hope that is what they are doing. Getting Dave to agree that shooting anyone is a bad idea.’_

“Well then you have a problem, Dave,” said the male robber. “What are you going to do?” As he said that, his gaze slid slightly to the side.

Dave’s gaze unconsciously followed. “Okay,” he said. “The vault.”

“You wouldn’t,” Magnus said in apparent horror.

“Yeah,” said Dave, gaining in confidence as he saw how the idea discomforted the trio. “That will work. Castle here explodes-“

“Would you stop saying that?” complained Castle.

“-and the falopolis gets rid of you guys,” Dave continued.

“And after having fed on us, the creature goes into hibernation until the next cycle,” the male robber continued the thought.

“Which is when I scoop it up and escape through the sewers.”

“It appears that we have underestimated our opponent,” Magnus said. 

Dave snorted at the comment and nodded his head towards the vault. “Get moving,” he ordered. “Don’t worry,” he said as they all filed into the vault. “It will be over in a few minutes." After the trio were in the vault, he gave Castle a shove and watched as he stumbled into the vault. Castle found his feet and turned in time to see the vault door slam shut behind him. The ominous sound of the tumblers slotting into place as the door locked filled the vault.

Panic began to overwhelm Castle and he looked at the robbers. The two women were projecting a sense of calm with the way that they held themselves. Conversely, the male robber was agitated, his body language defensive, with his arms across his chest.

“Okay,” the male robber said in a hopeful tone as his gaze darted between the two female robbers, “I am assuming this is part of the plan?”

“Of course it is,” Magnus said, seemingly offended at the male robber’s lack of faith.

“You’re going to love it,” the Indian woman said with a smirk. “Trust me William.”

“Who says that I don’t love it now?” the newly identified William replied.

Castle was about to speak when another burst of lime green gas escaped between his lips. A sharp, long lasting pain in his abdomen caused him to cry out in pain and fall to the floor, half-conscious. He vaguely heard the conversation occurring above him, too focused on the pain that was searing through his body as something moved within him.

“We only have a few minutes until the creature emerged,” he faintly heard Magnus say. “Get him into the recovery position.” Castle felt his body being manipulated into the recovery position. He heard William say something, but was unable to comprehend what he had said. “Less room for the gestation to complete,” Magnus said. “Should buy us a bit of time. Kate!”

“Should be out of here in a few minutes,” yelled the Indian woman, apparently called Kate.

Castle felt the pressure within his chest increase even more, to the point where it was almost unbearable. He let out a groan of pain and more gas escaped from between his lips. It felt as though his stomach was going to burst. Castle whimpered in pain, fading into almost complete unconsciousness. He hazily heard Magnus say something supportive and comforting, but the exact words were lost to the darkness. A few moments later, Castle faintly heard a loud crashing sound and felt a sharp pain in his neck. His body went into spasms and he began to convulse. The pressure in his chest moved up, towards his throat. Something moved up his throat, almost chocking him in its passage up his throat and out of his mouth. Castle coughed and inhaled his first deep breath in minutes. He opened his eyes and blinked away the blurriness.

As his vision cleared, Castle stared at the creature in front of him. It was the strangest creature that he had ever seen. It was shaped like a leech, twice as large as Castle’s own hand. The head of the creature was a faint lavender colour, which deepened into a dark purple that was almost black at the creature tapered tail. Multiple squid-like tentacles, at least a dozen, were writhing at the head of the creature. The creature thrashed on the floor, clearly upset about having been ejected from its host without consent.

Castle watched, unable to move, as the creature launched itself at robbers. The robbers all darted out of the way. Castle frowned slightly, as there was another person in the room and a gaping hole in the wall of the vault. The newcomer pulled out a gun and shot a blast of white light at the creature, striking the animal and blasting it into the wall. The creature slid down the wall and fell to the floor, where it lay still, twitching ever so slightly.

“Well done everyone,” Magnus complimented. “Kate, get the Abnormal. Let’s get out of here. Come on Castle, up we get. It’s okay, everything is alright.” She and William helped Castle to his feet. William draped one of Castle’s arms over his shoulders and helped Castle to climb out the hole in the vault wall. After exiting the bank, Castle found himself in the sewers. He wrinkled his nose at the smell and dry-heaved. William helped Castle travel through the sewers; there was a ledge along the edge of the sewer, allowing them to easily exit the underground tunnels. Magnus, Kate and the new guy followed up behind them, after having secured the vault door from the inside. Kate carried a container which Castle assumed contained the Abnormal creature.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Outside the vault, Dave was waiting impatiently. He glanced at his watch in frustration, over ten minutes had passed. Deciding that was long enough for the falopolis to have hatched and eliminated the Sanctuary team, Dave turned the locking mechanism and pulled the door open. Or at least, he tried to. Despite his best efforts, the heavy vault door refused to budge.

“No! No! No! Damn it!” cursed Dave as he threw his weight against the vault door. Turning from the door, he ran over to the stairs and up into the bank proper. Racing over to the money draws, Dave frantically shovelled wads of cash into his duffle bag. A loud bang filled the bank and the bank doors shook under the battering ram that had struck them. Dave glanced up fearfully from the till and saw the silhouettes of the police trying to break down the bank doors.

As the doors shuddered under another blow, Dave turn and ran to the elevator shaft. He shuffled along the edge to the grate and yanked it open. He crawled up the passage in the walls and, just as his feet vanished from view, the police broke open the doors to the bank. Police officers in bullet proof vests surged into the bank, guns held high. They looked around, surprised at the emptiness of the bank. They cautiously fanned out, searching the bank for hostiles and hostages.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dave crawled up the tunnel and pushed the grate in front of him open. He clambered out of passage, shoving his bag of stolen loot before him. Once out of the tunnel, he reached down to pick up the bag. Feeling flushed with victory at his escape with some profit, small though that it was, he started to rise, but froze when he heard the ominous clicks of multiple guns being cocked.

“Freeze!” shouted a female voice. “Now slowly, put your hands on you head and turn around. Dave groaned to himself as he dropped the bag of money and complied with the command. He turned and found himself face to face with half a dozen other cops, led by an angry-looking woman.

As she approached to cuff him, Detective Beckett spoke. “We’ve been watching the alley since we first learnt about the robbery. You made the wrong call using the old coal shaft to escape.” She tightened the cuffs around his wrist and led him over to the police car. “Now, you are going to tell us exactly what happened in there.”

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Castle stumbled out of the sewers with the rest of the bank robbers. They had climbed out of a manhole that appeared to be on the other side of the town to the bank. As he took a breath of fresh air, a welcome change after the sink of the sewers, the last of the fog that had been clouding his mind disappeared. He watched as Kate and the new robber carried the falopolis over to a non-descript car that was parked on the side of the road. William, seeing that he could stand on his own, stepped away and, at a nod from Magnus, went over to help the other two.

“I expect that you would like an explanation,” Magnus said conversationally, as if they were talking over a cup of coffee.

“I think that after all of this I have earned one,” Castle replied determinedly.

“Perhaps,” Magnus conceded. “But surely someone with your imagination could come up with a more that satisfactory story?”

“And sometimes a story isn’t enough,” Castle challenged.

Magnus looked at him for a moment and Castle felt as though he was standing before the ancient Egyptian god Anubis, having his heart measured against the Feather of Truth. “Very well then Mr Castle,” Magnus said. “My colleagues and I work for an organisation that deals with the more extraordinary things in life. The falopolis is just one of the Abnormals that we deal with. It is an extreme rare species and we came here to retrieve it before it hatched. Unfortunately, it hatched before we could secure it and found a host.” Here she paused and sent a pointed look at Castle. “That was you, Mr Castle. Now, once the falopolis has matured within the host, it will burst forth, killing the host and proceed to devour anything that gets in its path.”

“But at the time you didn’t know who the host was,” Castle said, understanding dawning on his face. “You couldn’t let anyone leave the bank, in case they were infected.”

“Correct,” Magnus acknowledged. “And the best way to quarantine the bank-“

“Was to rob it,” Castle finished the sentence with a grin. “This is so cool! Are all mythical creatures real? Do vampires exist? Werewolves? Oh, Bigfoot. Please, tell me that Bigfeet are real!” Turning his puppy-go eyes on Magnus, he waited with baited breath.

“Yes, Mr Castle,” Magnus said evenly as she watched her team members load the falopolis crate into the car. “Werewolves and Sasquatches are real. Vampires however, have been almost completely extinct for hundreds of years. ”

“Sweet! I told Beckett that they were real” Castle cheered. “And you Sanctuary guys are awesome; you’re all James Bond spy-like, hunting abnormal creatures. Is this what your missions are normally like? Do you…”

Castle’s excited ramble trailed off as Magnus levelled an unimpressed stare at him. In the privacy of his mind, Castle noted that Magnus’ stare was even more powerful than Beckett’s; it seemed to carry far more weight behind it than should be possible for a forty-year old woman. His grin faded and he turned to look at the car.

“What will you do with the falopolis?” he asked concernedly.

“We will take it back to our facility, where it will be safely secured and cared for. We will study it in order to learn more about this particular abnormal. You don’t need to be worried Mr Castle,” she said as she saw the expression his face. “The falopolis is not sentient and we will take the best of care of it.”

Castle blinked at that last statement and took a moment to process the information. “And what about me?” he asked. “What happens to me now?”

“Now you go back to your life,” Magnus said. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a business card, which she handed to Castle. “If you ever encounter something that seems abnormal in your investigations with the New York Police Department, give us a call,” she said and walked over to the car. William, Kate and the final robber were already in the car. Magnus opened the car door and paused before she entered the car. “Oh, and Mr Castle,” she called. Castle’s head jerked up from the card to look at her. “If you could avoid using this as inspiration for your next book, I would be most obliged.” And with that final remark, she got into the car and drove away.

Castle looked down at the car in his hand once more, reading the inscription upon it:

Sanctuary

For All

Dr Helen Magnus

M.D.   D.T.C.X.B

He tucked the card into his pocket and took his bearings. He could faintly hear a commotion on the other side of town. Figuring that was where the bank was, Castle started walking towards the disturbance. He smiled as he walked, Beckett was never going to believe what had happened.

 


End file.
